The Hummingbird
by Screaming Fool
Summary: As far as Birdpaw is concerned, Honeypaw is possibly one of the most annoying cats in all of ThunderClan. Everyone adores her, she's unfairly pretty and she's just so irritatingly perfect. But as the two grow older, they learn that sometimes feelings hide behind masks, and that what lingers behind those masks isn't always what they expected.
1. Prologue

**The Hummingbird:**

 **R &R**

 _Prologue:_

 _The elder's den was quiet_ , as Thornear rested peacefully. The den felt rather spacious and quiet, without Whispersong and Lightpelt's arguments every morning about who got what for their first meal. The clan was just coming out of one of the worst leaf-bare's they had experienced in a while - StarClan, it was one of the worst leaf-bare's _Thornear_ had experienced in all the moons he had lived - and greencough had claimed both Whispersong and Lightpelt's lives. They had peaceful deaths, the greencough had no chance to get worse. The earliest symptoms had claimed their elderly lives. They had died curled up next to Thornear and with their kits and grandkits with them.

Thornear didn't feel lonely, he didn't even feel sad. Whispersong had been his mentor, and she was still somehow struggling on despite the fact she was now in the elder's den with her own apprentice. Lightpelt had been an older apprentice when Thornkit became Thornpaw, but Lightpelt had been in and out of the medicine cat's den for most of his time in the elder's den. His death was long awaited.

Thornear did miss them, of course he did, but he knew it was their time.

And besides, he had plenty of other options for company. Twigleap had just had kits, and there were two other litters as we-

"Thornear! Thornear!" The elderly tom shot upright, eyes wide open and used claws unsheathing. A brief moment of panic consumed him, before he noticed a black-and-white splotched kit standing in front of him, eyes wide and curious. Two other kits sat behind him, a pale-grey she-cat and a darker-grey tom with black paws and ears. Thornear sighed in relief and sheathed his claws once more, relaxing.

"Yes, little ones? What is it?" These kits were all too familar faces to Thornear. The black and white tom who sat in front of him was Patchkit, the pale-grey she-cat was Dovekit and the darker grey tom was Sootkit. They were all Thornear's old friends grandkits, though they had never known their grandfather personally. So, they had become attached to Thornear, seeing him as their grandfather.

"Can you tell us a stooooory?" Dovekit mewed in a sing-song voice, ear twitching in amusement as herself.

"Yeah! Momma won't let us stay in the nursery, she said we were being too noisy," Sootkit agreed, flicking his tail back and forth, "But Dewkit and Olivekit are just as noisy as us." He muttered under his breath. Thornear purred in amusement at Sootkit's bitter resentment of the new kits.

"Let me see, hmm," Thornear tilted his head to the side and upwards, as if thinking, "I have a lot to do today, l have to patrol the border, fight Tigerstar to make sure he doesn't hurt any of us-" He began only to have Patchkit pounce on him. He chuckled as Patchkit pouted right in his face, looking incredibly angry at Thornear's sarcasm.

"There's no way you could fight Tigerstar! You're old!" Patchkit declared, glaring at the elder, "Come _on_ , Thornear, tell us a story!"

Thornear chuckled again, low and rapsy, before he meowed, "Okay, okay, I was joking. But back in my day, I used to keep Tigerstar at bay, trapped 'im in the Dark Forest," Thornear looked at all of the kits, "And one day, one of you will need to take my place," All the kits looked at each-other excitedly, "But, anyway," He said comically, brushing off the seriousness of what he just said, "What kinda story would you kits like to hear, hm?"

All three kits thought for a moment, eyes glazing over as they thought through their options. Patchkit's ears suddenly perked, and he opened his mouth to speak, and a single 'ah' noise came from him, but Dovekit cut him off, "A love story!"

"Eww, gross!" Sootkit stuck out his tongue, looking at his siter and then Thornear, "She's only saying that cause she's so in love with Darkpaw!" Patchkit snickered at his brother's comment, and Sootkit swaggled his head victoriously when Dovekit made an audible choking noise in the back of her throat. It was no secret to anyone, even Dovekit's mother, that the young she-cat had a small crush on the dark tabby apprentice.

Thornear remembered his days as a kit, and the times where he would develop small crushes on other cats too. It made the entire thing more endearing, even as Dovekit's face morphed from one of embarrassment to one of anger.

"That's not true!" Dovekit hissed, and Thornear purred at the three kits. He watched as Dovekit went to cuff her brother over his ears, whilst Sootkit ducked out of the way of her paws. Patchkit stood in between the two of his siblings, well versed in how to stop them from arguing. It was hard to believe the three kits were almost 4 moons now.

"Hey now, Sootkit, be nice to your sister," Dovekit perked up as Thornear defended her, before she looked at him, expecting an answer to her suggestion, "I'll tell you a love story if you want, Dovekit," Thornear nuzzled the she-kit gently. Sootkit retched at the idea of listening to a love story, whilst Patchkit just muttered bitterly but seemed to accept it, "It might be a little different to what you're expecting though," Thornear leaned his head down his paws, and hummed,

"Let me tell you the story of Birdclaw."

 **Hey! This is my new story 'The Hummingbird,' (hopefully the name'll make sense after a while). This story will contain LGBT themes, so if that isn't your thing, this isn't for you. I can't wait to start writing this, and I can't wait to see what people think of it! I'm already starting on Chapter One, so depending on how well this is received, we'll see if I'll continue it :)! Until then,**

 **~Screaming Fool.**


	2. Chapter 1

**The Hummingbird:**

 _ **Chapter One:**_

Birdpaw has never liked Honeypaw since the beginning.

Ever since Honeypaw had learned how to speak, Birdpaw had despised her and everything she did and said. The pretty golden-tabby was the bane of Birdpaw's existence, even though Honeypaw insisted on being polite and nice towards Birdpaw, despite Birdpaw's obvious hatred for her.

Maybe it was the fact Honeypaw was everything Birdpaw wasn't, that she had everything that Birdpaw wanted. She was pretty, the leader's daughter, well-liked amongst her clanmates and she was aggressively loyal to ThunderClan. Birdpaw, on the other paw, was gruff-looking, just some average warrior's kits, barely known by most of her clanmates and wasn't as into "ThunderClan loyalty!" as Honeypaw was.

Birdpaw was envious- of course she was. Who wouldn't be? Birdpaw saw the way Seedpaw looked at Honeypaw when she wasn't looking, Birdpaw saw the way her eyes gleamed with jealousy and a single claw jutted out from underneath cream fur to knead at the ground. Even some of the warriors envied Honeypaw.

Honeypaw was three moons Birdpaw's junior. She had the same golden-tabby fur as her father, Lightstar, and she had her mother's pale-green eyes. Birdpaw had been excited to have another she-kit in the nursery at first, growing tired of the queen's gossiping and her siblings, but as Honeypaw grew up she began to wish the she-cat had never been born. Honeypaw had a slim figure, never seeming to gain an ounce of weight, and her face was narrow and pretty. She had a toned, high-pitched voice, that could get annoying after a while. She was assigned Tumblerose as her mentor, her father's sister, whom adored Honeypaw unconditionally.

Honeypaw was adored by her clanmates, even if they were jealous of her. When she had first joined the apprentices, she had swooned the eldest apprentices, Skypaw and Cloudpaw, over with just a single bat of her eyelashes. She had won the heart of the grouchy, firey-tempered deputy, Dustmoon, in a heartbeat. And she had even managed to get _Sootstorm_ , Birdpaw's mentor, to love her, despite the fact that his first ever, "Hello," to her had been growled out.

Birdpaw _hated_ this.

She herself was not popular amongst her clanmates. Her androgynous looks drove away toms, and even some she-cats, and her hatred of the clan's most popular cat also didn't help. Her slouched shoulders and unappealing pelt colour didn't attract much attention either. Even Greypaw had to wrinkle his nose every now and again at his sister's lack of hygiene.

"Don't you ever _wash_?" He hissed at her one night as she came back in from the sun-setting patrol. Her response had been quick, simple and straightforward. A cuff over the ears and a loud growl had silenced her brother's complaints.

Birdpaw grabbed a crow out of the fresh-kill pile as she watched Seedpaw, Honeypaw, Cloudpaw and Skypaw all talking together. Cloudpaw and Skypaw were also three moons older than Birdpaw and her siblings, and had just finished their assessments the day before. Cloudpaw was clearly bragging about this to Seedpaw, who looked absolutely delighted at the attention from the handsome tom. Skypaw was taking a more humble approach, talking to Honeypaw and trying to joke his way into her heart, despite the fact she was just a new apprentice.

Oakpaw was with Birchspot and Berryshine, Birdpaw's parents, talking through a mouthful of mouse. Greypaw was nowhere to be seen, though Birdpaw could guess that he was with either Whitewhisker, his mentor, or Palecloud, a young she-cat warrior he had taken an interest in all of a sudden. Birdpaw felt an ache of loneliness as she sat down by herself in the corner of camp. From what she could see, Oakpaw was being lectured by Birchspot about something or other, and Birdpaw didn't want to interrupt. And she'd rather die than spend time with Skypaw, Cloudpaw, Seedpaw and Honeypaw.

Birdpaw bit into the crow, chewing slowly as she watched the camp. The sun-high patrol was returning, and she spotted the grey pelt of Sootstorm in between the others. He would probably want to train soon, so she'd have to eat quickly. Birdpaw flicked an ear, and took another bite of crow. She examined the camp and her clanmates, mind wandering to what every cat her age thought about- potential partners.

She found most toms in her clan either annoying or incredibly dull. Greypaw was the only one she could put up with, and Oakpaw as well at times, but they were both her brothers. Cloudpaw was a braggart and picked on Birdpaw for so much as existing, so he was off the list entirely. Skypaw was nice, but she didn't think he was as "cute," as Seedpaw made him out to be. There were only three tom-warriors that were considered "young."

Sootstorm was only made a warrior when Birdpaw had been born, but he was her mentor. It would be weird if he were to take her as a mate. The other two options were Alderleaf and Hawkflight, brothers. Alderleaf was a quiet, kind tom who mainly kept to himself, whilst Hawkflight was an outgoing tom who was almost as adored as Honeypaw. They were both the sons of the deputy, so they were both just as talented as their father. Alderleaf, however, wasn't all too attractive, keeping his pelt in even worse condition than Birdpaw, and Hawkflight could get way too annoying and flirtatious when you spent a long time with him.

Birdpaw sighed as she realised she would probably be mateless forever. Seedpaw had Cloudpaw wrapped around her paw, whilst Honeypaw and Skypaw seemed to have a budding romance. Oakpaw had all the she-cat-warriors throwing themselves at him and his oh-so handsome face, whilst Greypaw had managed to form a meaningful relationship with Palecloud. Birdpaw, on the other hand, snapped her way out of any possible relationships. She took another miserable bite of crow as she thought about this, closing her eyes.

She was about to move back into the apprentice's den, where it was quiet, when suddenly a deep voice spoke.

"Hey." She looked up to meet the eyes of none other than Lionpaw, Honeypaw's brother. He was almost indentical to his sister, with golden-tabby fur, except his was much more wild and care-free, and his eyes were an amber colour instead of green. In his maw he held a pudgy mouse. He looked tired, he had been on the night patrol.

"Oh, hey." She greeted him politely.

"Can I sit there?" He mewed, indicating to the place beside her, "You looked lonely, and everyone else is too busy."

"Are you calling me a second option?" Birdpaw tried to say sarcastically, but it ended up coming off truly hurt and angry. Lionpaw looked taken aback for a moment, eyes widening, before Birdpaw had realised her mistake, "Oh, sorry, that came off way too literal. You can sit beside me."

Lionpaw nodded and lay down beside her, making sure there was no contact between the two. If Birdpaw had been any other she-cat, she was sure he'd have been all over her. But she was Birdpaw, with matted, dirty fur. Lionpaw worked hard to keep his pelt so pristine, she didn't blame him for trying to keep away from contact.

"S _oooo_ ," Birdpaw looked up to meet Lionpaw's eyes, "Whatcha doing here by yourself? You're usually joined at the hip with Greypaw," Lionpaw took a bite out of the mouse, talking through his food, "Or at least not with your parents and Oakpaw?"

Birdpaw swallowe down a mouthful of crow, seeming to have better manners than Lionpaw, "Greypaw is probably off with Whitewhisker of Palecloud," She mewed, checking around the camp for her brother, but he was still nowhere to be seen, "and Birchspot was lecturing Oakpaw. And when he gets into a lecture, he never stops."

"Oh, I see," Lionpaw flicked his tail, taking another bite out of the mouse. This time, he waited until he swallowed to continue, "And I'm guessing you'd rather dance around in ShadowClan territory than interact with Honeypaw and her followers?" Lionpaw seemed to have a slight disliking for his sister too, but not as much as Birdpaw. It was one of the few things they shared in common, which was one of the few reasons Birdpaw put up with the tom.

"I'd rather be a fat mouse on clan territory in leaf-bare than go over there," Birdpaw sniffed haughtily. She pushed away her half-eaten crow, watching Sootstorm as he clearly began to search for her. She wouldn't say anything though, he'd find her eventually, "They're probably talking about what their kits names will be. ' _Oh,_ you're so strong, Cloudpaw! I bet they'll give you a _strong_ warrior name'," Birdpaw mimicked her sister to a T, and continued, "'Oh yes, Seedpaw. I'll bet I'll be Cloud _blaze_ or Cloud _hero_. And we'll have so many little kittens together.' 'Hahahaha! Oh Cloudpaw you're so _funny_ '." Birdpaw batted her eyes like her sister always did, stiffly and not at all seductively.

Lionpaw laughed a little at her joke, rolling his eyes, "You're not wrong, considering Skypaw and Honeypaw have let those two have their privacy."

Birdpaw smiled, tail-tip twitching as she watched Honeypaw and Skypaw make their way to a more secluded area of the camp, whilst Cloudpaw and Seedpaw continued to flirt in broad daylight. The fact Berryshine hadn't spotted the two and tore their tails off was a StarClan sent miracle.

"Since we're on the topic of romance, any special she-cats in _your_ life Lionpaw," Birdpaw tried to tease him like how Seedpaw teased Greypaw about Palecloud. She added a sing-song tone to her voice and nudged him ever so slightly, before retracting quite sharply and quickly, "Surely every she-cat in the clan with a pair of eyes must be just begging you to be their mate?"

"Haha," Lionpaw said, finishing his mouse with a last small, quick bite, "No, actually. I think I'm too young for most of them." Lionpaw shrugged, looking at Birdpaw, "And what about you, Birdpaw? Any toms your parents should be worried about?"

"Nope," Birdpaw replied bluntly, seeing Lionpaw stifle a laugh by letting himself smile, "You think any of them would want anything to do with _me_?" She looked down at her chest to indicate to herself, "Look at me! I look like I got dragged through the river and a bunch of brambles!"

Lionpaw laughed again at it, heartily, from deep down in his chest, "Aw, I'm sure some tom will take an-"

"If I'm not interrupting," The two apprentices looked up to meet the water-blue eyes of Sootstorm. He looked vaguely unimpressed, but also kind of amused, as he spoke, "I just wanted to tell Birdpaw that we will be training shortly. I think Lighstar is about to name Skypaw and Cloudpaw, I'd recommend joining your fri- _families_."

"Nice one." Birdpaw mewed in response to Sootstorm's remark at her lack of friends, voice blunt and dull. Lionpaw looked between the two, getting up and leaving without saying a word, "But, okay. I'll find you after the ceremony."

Sootstorm nodded before leaving Birdpaw all by herself again. She watched as Skypaw and Cloudpaw's mentors found them, Seedpaw being shoved away from the love of her life, looking angry as she shuffled towards their parents. Honeypaw flashed Skypaw a smile, which clearly dazzled him, before she moved on to sit next to her own mother, Patchlight, who was sitting beside Lionpaw.

Greypaw had suddenly appeared, sitting by Birchspot and Berryshine, head resting on his mother's shoulder- clearly the favourite kit. Birdpaw groaned as she got to her paws, stretching out as she watched Lightstar climb atop the leader's rock whilst Cloudpaw and Skypaw desperately cleaned at their fur. She began to pad towards her family, trying to look at least kind of cheery as she met her father's eyes. He gave her a small half-smile as he watched her approach.

" _StarClan,_ " Birdpaw thought as she watched the two young toms stand beneath the leader's rock, " _Please let my warriorhood come some time soon_."

 **Hey! Long time no see, sorry it took so long to update! I wrote this at roughly half twelve, so excuse it if it's poorly paced and/or just bad in general haha;! This chapter was mainly just an introduction to our main characters and life in ThunderClan, I promise it'll get more exciting from here on in! The allegiances will hopefully be next chapter, I just need to work out families and future couples and stuff!**

 **I hope you enjoyed this chapter of "The Hummingbird"!**


	3. Chapter 2

One of Birdpaw's favourite things is battle training.

When there were eight apprentices in training, she was the third strongest, only outdone by Oakpaw and Cloudpaw. Greypaw and Skypaw could put up a fair fight, but could never quite manage to outdo Birdpaw in the strength training they did. It was the one thing Sootstorm seemed to truly admire about her, her strength. She would catch him smirking at the other mentors whenever she easily hauled one of the other apprentices, or easily carried her own weight up a tree. And, because of this, it was something Birdpaw greatly admired about herself as well. She would openly brag about her own strength, earning eye-rolls and smiles from her senior warriors, and a few challenges to a wrestle, to which Sootstorm would decline for her ("to save her the embarrassment," followed by a knowing wink.)

And when Cloudpaw moved out of the apprentice's den – with his unfortunate new warrior name, Cloudsky, and his brother with the new name of Skycloud. Lightstar considered himself hilarious – Birdpaw found herself the second strongest apprentice, and began to push herself to become the strongest. Between the hunting training and patrols, she and Sootstorm would have her lifting logs across fields and practising battle moves all the time. It wouldn't be long before Lionpaw inherited his father's incredible strength, and Birdpaw needed to be ready to put up a proper fight to keep her title.

The first half of the day was to be dedicated to an all-apprentice battle-training session. The large group of mentors and apprentices made their way towards the training hollow. Greypaw and Birdpaw lead the way, shrieking and yowling and scaring away any prey on the territory to the chagrin of their mentors, as they chased one another through the undergrowth. Sootstorm was hot on their trails, growling out to be quiet, whilst Whitewhisker followed along, discontent clear on her face. Lionpaw and Oakpaw were trotting along as well talking with Redmask (who was filling in for Dustmoon, as he had other clan matters to deal with) and Hawkflight. Seedpaw and Honeypaw were chatting and giggling to themselves, describing how much cuter Skycloud and Cloudsky were now that they were warriors, whilst their mentors, Tumblerose and Furze-eye, eavesdropped and shook their heads at their mildly inappropriate comments.

Birdpaw and Greypaw finally tumbled into the training hollow, Greypaw pouncing onto his sister and squawking with victory, whilst Sootstorm finally caught up with them, panting with rage. Whitewhisker followed behind, whiskers twitching with amusement, as she looks over her shoulder, "Come on, you turtles! We ain't got all day." Before she trots over to pull her apprentice off of his sister.

Redmask, Oakpaw, Lionpaw and Hawkflight slip in behind the rest of them, Hawkflight beginning to tease and rile up his apprentice for the day of training ahead, much to the younger brown tabbies delight. Redmask asked Lionpaw if he is sure he wants to face Greypaw, to which the golden tom nodded eagerly. Honeypaw and Seedpaw joined shortly afterwards, beginning to compete over who is stronger. Tumblerose and Furze-eye finally joined the rest of the group, purring as they watch their apprentices mock one another.

"Ok!" Sootstorm called out as he dragged Birdpaw to sit next to him, "Lionpaw and Honeypaw will be spending some time learning some basic battle moves and catching up with the rest of us. Seedpaw and Greypaw shall spar first, then Oakpaw and Birdpaw. Regardless of who wins or loses, we will then switch to Seedpaw and Birdpaw and Oakpaw and Greypaw." Lionpaw and Honeypaw huffed, scuffing their paws at the idea of having to learn the basics whilst their senior apprentices battled, " _And_ ," Sootstorm cut in through their disappointment, "then we shall have one last spar between the older apprentices and younger apprentices. We have decided to pair Greypaw and Lionpaw, Honeypaw and Birdpaw, and Oakpaw and Seedpaw."

Birdpaw groaned at the idea of having to face off with the smaller golden she-cat, but her future opponent seemed delighted at having to battle her, nudging her from where she had decided to seat herself next to the blue-grey she-cat, "You're going to trash me, but don't expect me to lay down and submit!"

Birdpaw's competitive spirit kicked in, eyes narrowing as she looked at the other she-cat, "I'm going to destroy you." To which Honeypaw recoiled, used to friendly jesting and playful shoulder bumps, the serious tone Birdpaw had taken on being completely foreign to her.

"Woah you two, calm down," Oakpaw said as he padded by, eyes widening as if Birdpaw had threatened to kill Honeypaw. Which, technically she did, "Someone might think you're falling madly in love, relax."

"Maybe we are," Honeypaw responded readily.

"Absolutely not." Birdpaw replied in sync with the other she-cat, looking down at her with a tilted head at her response.

"Ah, young love," Oakpaw shook his head at the two of them, "I can already feel the chemistry, the-"

"Okay, it was mildly funny at first, and now you're about to transform into an elder who tells romance stories all day." Birdpaw snorted at her brother, cuffing him over the ears playfully, to which he instinctively ducked.

"Did I hear something about romance? I'm the mistress of romance, I'll have you know," Seedpaw padded over, sitting down beside her brother, "Furze-eye and Redmask are bickering over what to teach Lionpaw and Honeypaw, and after the fifth, 'you piece of mouse-dung just _listen,_ ' I got bored."

"Ah, well, welcome to romance central," Oakpaw glanced over his shoulder where the two warriors were still battling it out over whether or not to teach Lionpaw and Honeypaw the 'duck-and-swipe' move, before he looked back to the group, "Honeypaw and Birdpaw here are practically mates already. Honeypaw was all, 'you're going to trash me,' and Birdpaw was saying, 'I'm going to destroy you,' it was all very passionate."

Seedpaw looked between the two she-cats, genuinely confused for a brief second, before she caught on to her brother's joke, "Ohhh. It all makes sense now. Pretending to not like each-other to hide your secret love scandal. How did I not see this coming?"

"You're both very funny," Honeypaw snorted as well, to which Oakpaw nudged Seedpaw and murmured, 'see? Laughing the exact same way and all!', "But I think Birdpaw would rather swim in a river full of bees than be my mate."

"You're correct." Birdpaw replied bluntly without even looking at the other she-cat.

"Ooo, tough love," Oakpaw wrinkled his nose to indicate to Birdpaw that maybe she had been a bit _too_ mean, though Honeypaw said nothing about her blunt reply, so she ignored his attempt to give her social advice, "You'll get her next time, tiger."

"You four!" All four apprentices looked to see Sootstorm standing in between Furze-eye and Redmask, an unimpressed look on his face, "Get over here, we're gonna start training now that we've all come to a mutual, debated agreement." He glared at Furze-eye and then Redmask, "If you're all good, we'll give you the day off and you can... swim in the lake or something, I don't know."

"Well, lovebirds," Oakpaw looked between Honeypaw and Birdpaw, "You two try not to romantically tear each-other's throats out when you get around to sparring, hmm?" Before he turned heel and darted to meet his mentor, to avoid the earful Birdpaw was inevitably going to deliver him.

"Yeah, try to keep the constant bickering for when you're alone." Seedpaw added, winking at them both as if she had suggested something else, before she happily bounced over to her own mentor, head high and a smile on her face.

"Unbelievable." Birdpaw murmured and shook her head, before she began to walk to join the group.

Honeypaw walked alongside the blue-grey she-cat for a brief moment, muttering out a, "Please don't _actually_ kill me during our fight," Before she bounded up to stand next to Tumblerose proudly. Birdpaw watched her go, noticing for the first time a white spot on the tip of her tail. She cocked her head backwards, and smirked as she thought of all the ways she could take her down in training.

Oh, she was _so_ going to kill her.

* * *

Birdpaw's entire body ached as she finally managed to pin down Seedpaw, grunting with the effort. Seedpaw struggled for a few seconds, tongue lolling outwards, before she allowed herself to lie still, closing her eyes, "Okay, okay... you... StarClan, that _hurts-_ you win." Birdpaw clambered off of her sister, who sat up and shook out her fur, not caring that it frizzed up. The cream-furred she-cat shakily stood up, groaning as she toppled towards her mentor. Birdpaw stumbled over to stand next to Sootstorm, as he proudly declared her the winner of the battle. Fighting Oakpaw and then Seedpaw was most definitely a mistake, Birdpaw was just glad she'd have a doss round now, as Honeypaw stood proudly next to Tumblerose, puffing her chest out.

"Now that Honeypaw and Lionpaw have learned their first battle moves, we shall have a small test for them against Greypaw and Birdpaw," Sootstorm explained, indicating with his tail to Seedpaw and Oakpaw, "Whilst those two shall spar once more," Sootstorm nudged Seedpaw with a paw as she leaned against Furze-eye, panting heavily, "Let them get some endurance training in, hm?"

"Oh yeah, _great_." Seedpaw responded sarcastically, rubbing her eyes with her paw, to which Sootstorm chuckled, before he turned back to Birdpaw.

"Now, _please_ go easy on her," Birdpaw blinked hard in confusion, right ear leaning at an angle, as Sootstorm indicated to the small golden tabby, "She's a new apprentice, and if I send the leader's daughter home covered in bruises, I'll never be a mentor again." Sootstorm explained, glancing over to where Honeypaw was sloppily practising on Tumblerose, who was doing her best to give some last minute form advice. Her movements were quick but inaccurate, and Tumblerose could easily dodge, even if she moved slower than the apprentice.

"But she said-" Birdpaw began, only to have a tail stuffed in her mouth.

"I don't care if she said she's going to haul you from here to ShadowClan!" Sootstorm hissed, barely even flinching when Birdpaw dug the points of her fangs into his tail, "You will not hurt her purposefully. You will act as if you're play-fighting with a kit, understand?"

"Fine, fine," Birdpaw spat out Sootstorm's tail. She'd like to say his fur tasted bad, but he kind of tasted like what daffodil's smelled like.

Birdpaw and Honeypaw paired up at the far side of the training hollow, leaving Greypaw, Lionpaw, Seedpaw and Oakpaw plenty of space for their, most likely, more intense battles. Birdpaw stretched herself out, shaking out any tension she had gotten in her muscles from the fights with Oakpaw and Seedpaw, she pressed low to the ground before lifting herself back up again, purring as Honeypaw attempted to imitate her pre-battle warm-up.

"Now, basic rules," Tumblerose called out from where she paced the border of where they were allowed to fight, "No claws, of course, and no true-biting," Honeypaw flexed one claw, examining it, before sheathing it. She was obviously attempting to look threatening, but Birdpaw had seen snails that looked scarier than her, "First to pin their opponent for more than five seconds wins."

Birdpaw and Honeypaw both nodded to affirm they understood the rules, before Sootstorm yowled to indicate they could fight. Birdpaw pressed low to the floor as Honeypaw threw herself forward a few bounds, before slowing to a halt, mimicking Birdpaw by pressing low to the ground and beginning to creep around her. Her form was weak, and she was not nearly pressed closely enough to the ground to get enough power when she kicked off, but Birdpaw supposed it was smart of her to not just throw herself at her opponent. Birdpaw suddenly sprang forward, thrusting her head into Honeypaw's side, though not as hard as she could have, with Sootstorm's eyes piercing into her back. Honeypaw curled slightly at the sudden force, but managed to twist as she fell to pound at Birdpaw's head with her paws.

Birdpaw felt paws hammering themselves against her chest, as she half-stood over Honeypaw, before there was one kick strong enough to make her recoil and throw herself backwards, "Good!" Tumblerose called to her apprentice, a wide smile full of pride on her face. Sootstorm watched his apprentice silently, he knew she was capable of handling herself, and that was she was laying off the other apprentice.

Honeypaw scrambled upright, and charged forward once more. But her footwork was sloppy and her head dizzy, and her paws slipped from under her, toppling towards the ground head-first. Birdpaw glanced to Tumblerose, who was lifting a paw towards her face in disappointment, before she charged forward, tackling Honeypaw once more. Honeypaw groaned for a second, confused, before she realised what was happening. She swiped at Birdpaw's face, hissing and spitting as she writhed underneath the much larger she-cat, pushing her face away with her paw.

Birdpaw held fast, using her weight to hold herself to the ground as the younger apprentice thrashed beneath her. Honeypaw pushed her chin upwards, forcing her to stare into the sun, before eventually all of her limbs lay flat on the floor, her golden chest heaving forward, "I give up. You win."

"And, as a ShadowClan warrior," Tumblerose commented, strolling over to push Birdpaw off the loser of the battle, before she pressed her paw to thick fur, "Her claws sink right into your throat, and she tells the tale of how it was a slip of the paw," Tumblerose dug the nibs of her claws into the other she-cat's neck, only enough to allow Honeypaw to acknowledge the claws were there with an uncomfortable squirm, "Never say, 'Oh, I give up.' We give up when we open our eyes and see StarClan."

Honeypaw huffed and batted her mentor's paw away, sitting upright, "Not _my_ fault you paired me with one of the strongest apprentices."

"Flattered, but in battle you won't get to choose who you fight." Honeypaw's lips curled for a brief moment, clearly thinking Birdpaw was making a joke, but when she saw the dead serious look on the blue-grey she-cat's face, her look fell blank once more. She hunched in on herself, huffing a stray strand of fur out of her eyes comically, before she nodded slowly, understanding the lesson she was being taught.

Across the clearing, Greypaw and Lionpaw finally pulled away from one another, unable to outdo each-other, whilst Seedpaw finally managed to get in a good, agile move her brother couldn't counter, and tripped him up by his legs, pinning him on his stomach. She yowled victoriously, delighted with herself for having outdone Oakpaw, whilst her brother grumbled to himself bitterly.

The group of mentors and apprentices regrouped, as Whitewhisker began to address everyone, "I'm really impressed with the ability show today," She announced, Birdpaw feeling her ears burn with embarrassment yet her chest swelled with pride when her eyes lingered on Birdpaw for a few seconds, "It is clear that you will all be capable warriors, even if some of us need some work done..." Whitewhisker continued as Birdpaw eventually began to tune out of the speech. She had heard enough, and Whitewhisker was known for her long rambles.

"Hey, Birdpaw," Honeypaw took a seat beside her former training buddy, though the much larger cat did not look down to make eye-contact, "You're really good at fighting, even if it was an unfair fight," Honeypaw nudged Birdpaw in an attempt to be playful, but received little response other than a grunt to signify she had been heard, "I hope I can end up being as good at fighting as you and Oakpaw. Tumblerose was saying I should watch you two sparring so I could learn more moves."

"It'll come up with time," Birdpaw forced out, as her eyes remained locked on Whitewhisker. She saw her mouth moving, but did not hear the words she spoke, "Oakpaw and I spend days practicing at a time, between hunting lessons and patrolling."

Honeypaw nodded slowly, "Yeah, that makes sense. You two could never be so good without practice. Father always said practice makes perfect."

"I'm not perfect, yet." Birdpaw snorted, finally looking down at the golden tabby. Honeypaw opened her mouth to say more, when suddenly Sootstorm joined them, nudging his apprentice upright.

"Come on, Whitewhisker's _finally_ done," He said, nodding to Honeypaw, "You did well today, for your first spar. I hope you'll spar Birdpaw again, when you're older and have had more practice."

"I will." Honeypaw chirped back, beaming at the mentor's approval of her skill.

Sootstorm nodded once more, never one for talking, before he nudged Birdpaw with his muzzle once more, "Come on, I'll race you back to the camp."

Birdpaw felt adrenaline pump through her veins once more, as she pushed herself off, taking long bounds out of the clearing. As Sootstorm easily ran to leap and push himself alongside her, she wondered how next she would beat Honeypaw in battle.

 **Finally done! After literally 6 months, I finally got inspiration to continue this, and it's pretty long (2,884 words!). If you're still here, I applaud you cause I would have left by now. I promise updates will be more consistent, especially with school being over. Expect the next one in under a month (I'm going on holidays, and I tend to get a lot of inspiration to write on those, so I'll come back and be a writing machine).**

 **Anyway, thank you for reading, please leave a review. Point out flaws so that I can correct them, and let me know what you think!**


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